The Holy Hufflepuff Grail
by CypressWand
Summary: A short story on Helga Hufflepuff's eternal youth and her badgers. STORY: COMPLETE


**The Holy Hufflepuff Grail**

'Salazar? Saaalazaaar? Are you out there?'

From the depths of the recently built dungeon corridor, Salazar came gliding into the Entrance Hall. 'What is it, Helga?' he asked.

Helga looked up at Salazar's tall stature with twinkling eyes. 'I think I have found the perfect place to build my common room,' she squealed in delight, and pointed at the entrance on the opposite side of the dungeons.

'Isn't that where your new house-elves are currently building the kitchens?' asked Salazar. 'I thought we agreed to have the kitchens right below the Great Hall, as it would be the most convenient.'

'I'm sure my badgers can dig an extra tunnel in the opposite direction,' said Helga. 'Creating a safe nest underground for the students would just be _perfect_...don't you think?'

Salazar nodded in agreement. 'Dark...cold...not to mention quite damp. An appropriate place to house students in my opinion. Not to mention all the treasures you may find buried underneath the earth. I myself keep finding more and more precious gemstones the further I dig underneath the lake.'

'I'll go get my badgers and get straight to work!' said Helga (who had grown even more excited at the prospect of digging up precious gemstones), and bounced her way out through the heavy oaken doors until she had reached the little kitchen garden that she had planted for herself. There, a large cete of badgers were sleeping, playing, and digging through the earth.

'Hello my darlings!' said Helga as she cuddled with each and every one of them. 'I'm afraid playtime is over. It's time to get back to work.'

The badgers raised up their heads in pride at being given something to do. The entire group skipped and hopped behind Helga as she made her way back to the castle.

'Right there,' she said as she pointed at the entrance to the kitchens. 'I want all of you to dig a very large circular hole in the ground. Like a large badger's nest...but for people!'

The badgers sprinted off and went straight to work. Satisfied, Helga was about to turn around to pay a visit to Rowena, when suddenly an older looking house-elf came running around the corner. 'Miss Hufflepuff!' yelled the house-elf. 'Miss Hufflepuff! You should come and see! Please come and see!'

'What is it, dear...'

The house-elf blushed at being referred to as "dear". 'It's Hokey, Miss Hufflepuff. Hokey the house-elf. Us house-elves believe we have finished the kitchens, miss. We just put up the portrait of the bowl of fruit like you asked of us, miss.'

Helga put up a wide smile and clapped her hands in excitement. 'Lead the way, Hokey,' she said as she took the house-elf by the hand. 'I can't wait to see the beautiful place you and your friends have created.'

Hokey took the lead. She tickled the pear (which squirmed and giggled under her touch) of the portrait she had mentioned earlier and waited until the pear had transformed into a door-knob. She opened the door and revealed a high-ceilinged room. The walls were adorned with glittering brass pots and pans and an enormous fireplace lit up the entire kitchen from the opposite end. Five tables, one for each house and one for the teachers, were standing in the exact same position as the tables in the Great Hall.

'Are you satisfied, miss?' asked Hokey carefully.

'More than satisfied, my dear Hokey,' said Helga. She was unable to tear her eyes away from all the supplies that the shelves were stocked with.

'Would you like something to drink, miss?' asked Hokey as she escorted Helga to the corner of a table. 'Tea, perhaps? Or some coffee? Or would you like to try some of the wine we just made from the barrels over there?'

Helga looked over her shoulder to see the barrels Hokey was speaking of. 'I would love to have some of your wine,' she said, already tasting the sweet and earthy tones of the wine in her mouth through sheer memory. 'It is my very favourite.'

'I shall remember that, miss,' said Hokey with a bow, and ran up to the nearest barrel. She returned a moment later carrying a golden cup in her hands, followed by the rest of all the house-elves who worked in the kitchen.

'We come bearing a gift for you, miss,' said Hokey as she placed the cup on the table in front of of Helga. 'It's a magical cup, miss. It has a badger engraved on it. We know how much you love badgers.'

'This is lovely,' said Helga sincerely as she picked up the cup by its thin handles. 'What do I owe this to?'

'For giving us a safe place to work, miss,' said Hokey. 'It is what we house-elves do best, after all. We made the wine ourselves, miss. It is the same colour as your hair.'

'A fine shade of red indeed,' said Helga proudly as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and took a sip of the sweet wine. 'Thank you, and I am forever grateful to all of you, and I could not have wished for a better kitchen. I hope however, you can forgive me for needing to return to my badgers. They are working on creating a common room for the new students who will be arriving soon. Go rest for a while. You've worked so hard today.'

'Thank you, Miss Hufflepuff!' chanted the house-elves in unison. 'All you need to do is call my name, and I will be there, miss,' added Hokey.

With her new cup clutched tightly into one hand, Helga kissed the top of Hokey's head and made her way out through the portrait. As she walked her way up to where her badgers were digging, she took another, much larger gulp of the wine. The earthly taste melted on her tongue and a soft swaying rush crawled its way up to her mind, making her feel more light-headed and happier than usual.

Helga had found where her badgers were digging. With the pleasant buzz still swaying in her mind, she saw that in the centre of the hole the badgers had hollowed out, a pile of rough gemstones was being collected. She took another large gulp from her cup and dropped down to her knees to take a closer look. The pile consisted mostly of black opals and citrine stones. She took another large gulp from her wine and looked at the stones with admiration. 'These are precious stones my dearies,' she said to no badger in particular, 'but none are as precious...as a cup...that never runs out of wine.'

...o0o...

'My dear Helga, still looking young as ever,' said Godric as he kissed her once on each cheek and offered her a bouquet of daffodils. 'Are you ready for yet another year at Hogwarts?'

'Always am, my dear friend,' said Helga as she took the flowers from Godric's hands and pulled him into a tight embrace. 'You seem to have grown so much older over the summer. Has your hair always been this grey?'

'One day you will share your secret of youth with me,' said Godric with a smile. 'But for now, allow my old hat to grant you some new students.'

Godric helped Helga to sit down in her seat, which squeaked and cried a little when she sat down in it. 'Oh hush you silly seat,' she snapped as she wiggled around with her bum to get comfortable. 'I may be plump but I'm not _that_ fat.'

The chair sighed and remained still afterwards. From the inside of her yellow robes, Helga pulled out the golden cup and placed it on the table. It instantly filled itself with her favourite red wine. 'Hokey,' she mumbled into the air. 'Hokey, are you here somewhere?'

Hokey popped up out of nowhere, and immediately flung her little arms around Helga's massive neck. 'It is so good to see you again, miss!' she squeaked. 'I have missed our nightly trips to the kitchens terribly over the summer. I came bearing some of your favourite cakes, miss.'

'I missed you too, my sweet little Hokey,' said Helga as she planted a kiss on Hokey's cheek, and gladly took the cakes from her hands. 'Would you like some of my wine? You look like you've grown so much older over the past summer.'

'Just a small sip, miss,' said Hokey, who had already raised the cup to her lips. 'I must work hard for the feast tonight. I'm sure I shall meet you in the kitchens later.'

With a small popping sound Hokey disappeared again.

'You and that house-elf,' said Godric as he shook his head, his grey mane dancing behind him. 'I have yet to encounter someone as lovely and kind as you to all living creatures.'

'Hokey holds a special place inside my heart,' said Helga as she raised her cup. 'To house-elves, for without them this school would crumble into ashes.'

Godric nodded in understanding and raised his own goblet of mead. 'To house-elves. May we always hold friends as loyal as they.'

...o0o...

'You are the only friend that I have left,' said Helga with tears in her eyes. She was holding on to the hand of her last remaining friend. 'I can't do this without you.'

'Then retire...my dear Helga,' said Salazar with great difficulty. 'Godric and Rowena...have already blown out their final breath...and now the time has arrived for me to do the same.'

'Then who shall run this school?' asked Helga, sounding desperate. 'It was meant to be run by the four of us, and yet I never once give it a single thought that all of it might end someday.'

'I left the school...remember?' said Salazar with his distinctive grin. 'And the school turned out...just fine. Appoint a teacher to be...the Headmaster. Godric's old hat will continue on the tradition...of sorting the students...in an unbiased manner.'

'I will miss you,' whimpered Helga. 'I will miss you more than my house...my badgers...perhaps even more than life itself.'

'How about you tell me your secret,' said Salazar. 'I would love to know...why your hair is still red.'

A faint smiled appeared on Helga's lips despite the tears. 'Alright,' she said. 'I suppose I could share what has been keeping me young for all these years.'

'I would love to know,' said Salazar, his eyes gleaming with interest despite lying on his deathbed.

Helga leaned in closer so she was certain only he could hear. 'It's the cup,' she whispered. 'When the house-elves first gave it to me, I thought it just refilled itself up with wine whenever it ran empty. It is the finest wine I had ever tasted, and so I drank, and drank some more. I lavished and feasted on that wine...until I started to notice something. Over the years, I have seen Rowena grown wrinkly. Godric's hair has turn to grey, and I have watched you turn into a skeleton until you could no longer stand. And yet, my skin stayed smooth. My hair is still red, and my body is plump if not plumper than ever.'

'Cherish that gift for as long as you have it,' said Salazar. 'I have something...I want to give to you.'

'A gift?' said Helga while she wiped away the tears from her eyes with her sleeve. 'You have always indulged me with gifts, and yet your dying wish, is to give me more?'

Salazar pointed at the locket that was hanging around his chest. 'Take it,' he said. 'I have no use for it...in death.'

Helga looked at the green and golden locket with great fondness and found a way to pull it over Salazar's neck. 'I will cherish it always,' she said as she put it around her neck. 'Is there a way to open it?'

Salazar laughed, and was quickly silenced by a painful cough. 'The only thing you'll find in there, my dear Helga...is my love for you.'

...o0o...

'Hokey dear, what's your opinion on these pink robes?' asked Helga as she held up a jewelled mirror as she dabbled some rouge onto her face.

'They make you look like a delicious iced cake, miss,' said Hokey with a crooked smile.

'We need to hurry up, Hokey,' said Helga impatiently. 'And remember, my name is Hepzibah Smith; a distant relative of Helga Hufflepuff. Did you put an empty vase up?'

'I did, Miss Smith,' said Hokey. 'Are you certain you want to show Mister Riddle your most prized possessions?'

'Of course I do,' said Helga. The blush on her cheeks turned redder than the rouge she had previously applied. 'He's a well-mannered young man with a fascination in ancient magical artefacts. I see no reason not to. Do you?'

Hokey hunched down and bit her lip. She never would admit to distrusting anyone that Helga had taken a fondness of. 'No, miss,' she said carefully. 'It's just...you've never shown your treasure to anyone else before.'

'Well I'm sure young Mister Riddle is a reliable young man,' said Helga. 'To tell you the truth, Hokey...he reminds me a little of Salazar. Don't you think?'

'He does,' murmured Hokey as she slipped into her tight satin slippers. 'He'll be here soon, miss. Would you like me to prepare some hot cocoa for later?'

'I would love some hot cocoa, my old friend.'

* * *

A/N The Holy Grail is a (dish, plate, stone or) cup that is part of an important theme of Arthurian literature. According to legend, it has special powers and is designed to provide happiness, eternal youth and food/drink in infinite abundance.

A/N A "cete" is the official term for a group of badgers.

A/N According to the HP wiki, it was Helga who brought the house-elves to Hogwarts.


End file.
